NIBB Departments

DIVISION OF SYMBIOTIC SYSTEMS

Faculty

ProfessorKAWAGUCHI, Masayoshi

Associate ProfessorSOYANO, Takashi

Assistant ProfessorFUJITA, Hironori

Research Summary

More than 80% of land plant families have symbiotic relationships with arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi. AM fungi absorb minerals, including phosphate, from the soil and provide them to the plants. The origin of AM symbiosis is thought to have been in the early Devonian period. On the other hand, the root nodule symbiosis that occurs between legumes and rhizobial bacteria, unlike AM symbiosis, involves host-specific recognition and postembryonic development of a nitrogen-fixing organ. Despite marked differences between the fungal and bacterial symbioses, common genes required for both interactions have been identified using model legumes; Lotus japonicus and Medicago truncatula. Our laboratory, which was launched in 2009, focuses on the early stages of the interaction between these microorganisms and L. japonicus in order to shed light on the nature of ancient plant functions involved in symbiosis signaling.